Self-healing interconnects for flexible electronics applications

In this paper, we present the results of a study of self-healing flexible interconnect structures which utilize silver metallization on thin solid electrolyte films. Silver/electrolyte (Ag–Ge–Se) bilayers were fabricated on polyimide substrates and subsequently damaged by small radius bending. A small bias was used to stimulate Ag electrodeposition in the stress-induced cracks, thereby repairing the electrical discontinuity and returning the interconnect to a resistance close to its initial (unbroken) value. The healed structures were shown to be stable for small signal DC and AC conditions but were unable to withstand long periods of increased DC voltage stress due to interconnect erosion by ion migration.